


Don't Hide. You're Not Alone

by LunaCross_Freewood_Ryack12



Series: RWBY Ships [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Archester - Freeform, Cardin is a Faunus, Coco is really smart, M/M, Trash Ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaCross_Freewood_Ryack12/pseuds/LunaCross_Freewood_Ryack12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cardin is tired of Cardin picking on Velvet for being a Faunus and finds out some stuff he didn't expect to.</p><p>AU where Cardin is a Faunus but they were cut off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Hide. You're Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IWriteLove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWriteLove/gifts).



Jaune's face was going beet red with anger. He stared from a distance as Cardin pulled on Velvet's ears. Dove, Russel and Lark all laughed along with their burnt orange haired leader. Velvet had only wanted to read her book in peace outside of the academy and Cardin and his team ruined it for her. Pyrrha and Ren could see the red that was rising in his face, Nora was to preoccupied with Magnhild to notice Jaune stand up from the fountain  where they were sitting with team SSSN and RWBY.

"Jaune, what are you doing?" Ruby was the first to speak up seeing Jaune began to stomp over to Velvet and team CRDL.

"I'm either going to do something really brave or really stupid. It depends on how this this goes."

Ruby knew this was going to go wrong and chased after him.

"This is gonna be interesting." Yang was the second to leave, running after her sister. Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha and Ren were concerned for both of their leaders well being and ran to catch up with them, Ren having to drag Nora behind him. Team SSSN didn't know what else to do so they followed behind at a slow pace.

Jaune could hear Velvet whimpering from the grip on her ear and Jaune didn't stop to think what he was going to do, so he pushed Cardin away from Velvet and into his team mates. Jaune was surprised by the strength he mustered to the push Cardin but, was happy he got Cardin to let go of Velvet's ear. Cardin pushed Dove away from him and pointed at Jaune.

"What's your problem Arc? Why don't-"

"My problem is you Cardin!"  That shut the larger man up really quickly.

"You're always picking on others who are smaller than you and don't want to fight back. If you're training to be a hunter you're supposed to protect the weak, not pick on them."

Cardin was going to retort but, he finally noticed Velvet running off to Beacon, her legs never stopping for a moments rest. Cardin was mad now. He pulled out his mace, the fire crystal burned brightly, ready to be used. He ran at Jaune but he was quick to pull out his sword and push him away as his sheath turned into a shield and smack him under the jaw. Nora happily jumped and prepared to run into the fray to help her leader but, Ren stopped her with a stern look and a arm the restrained her. Nora pouted childishly but fell to her but on the ground with Magnhild across her lap with the other teams and her own.

Cardin saw nothing but red and Jaune knew that  and his anger was blinding him. Cardin ran at him again, his arm raised with his mace ready to smash it down to his head. Jaune stopped the attack with Crocea Mors and changed his shield back int a sheath and swung at his ankles, knocking him over onto his back. Cardin landed onto his shoulders and his indigo eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

He had a tearing feeling in his shoulder blades and had to bite his lip to stop the wrenching cry that wanted to escape but he couldn't stop the tears from falling down his face. He turned over to lay on his chest so they couldn't see his tears but, doing that showed the large dark stains on the back of his shirt.

Blake and Sun, who he and his team finally arrived, could smell blood, blood that was different to human blood. They never got the chance to speak up before Jaune started talking again.

"Why? Why do you like to hurt everyone? Velvet is a saint, I don't see why you would-"

"You want to know why? You want to know why I pick on people, Faunus especially?" Beacause I'm trying to make them stronger. Faunus are weak disgusting  animals and we don't deserve to walk among humans, but we should at least be able to protect ourselves. I just want to-"

"What do you mean 'We'?" Blake stopped him. Her eyes were aquatinted suspiciously at Cardin. The blood from his shoulders trailed down his back, Sun had long since caught up with Blake and his tail was swinging, agitated.

"Yeah, I heard that too. 'We', 'Ourselves'. You wanna tall us something?"

Cardin realized his mistake and his head whipped around to stare at his team, the Faunus boy and the bow wearing girl and lastly on Jaune. He could see in his sky blue eyes that stared into his indigo ones, searching of for the truth that laid miles away from the surface. If he stared any longer Cardin would combust into flames from the intensity of it.

Cardin couldn't take the judging stares and the quiet whispers of his team and the others, so he did what he always did when he was a kid. 

He ran.

He pushed aside team RWBY and ran for Beacon. He only looked back once and the look he saw in Jaune's eye made him crash through the front doors, his only wish to get farther from the mesmerizing blue eyes that belonged to Jaune Arc.

Dove, Russel and Lark started to run after their leader only to be stopped by Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Not a good idea. He's really emotional. Give him time to calm down, even a little bit." Jaune tried to tell them but Russell pushed them aside.

"You're the one who caused it. We're gonna go check out the damage that you did Arc."

They ran off to the academy, starting the search for their leader.

"Pyrrha, you might want to bring out Miló...in javelin form, please." 

Pyrrha, knowing why Jaune wanted this, without question brought out the javelin. Blake asked the question on everyones mind.

"So what do you guys think he meant when Cardin said 'We'?"

"Well what do you think he meant?"

Everyone turned to see team CFVY all together. Coco held her deadly handbag and her sunglasses down on her nose.

"How long have-"

"We been standing here? We saw Cardin's freak out and him run off. Velvet told us what happened and we were about to show him a lesson for messing with our Bun Bun." Coco pushed her glasses back up. "Now lets talk about that little question you asked Blake. He said 'We' when talking about Faunus so, clearly he's a Faunus."

Sun scoffed and folded his arms. "If he's a Faunus than I'm General Ironwood in control of army forces."

"That's a scary thought."

Sage whispered to Scarlet who chuckled under his breath. Obviously, Sun heard it and glared at them before turning back to Coco. "All I'm saying is, if he's a Faunus than where is the indicator that he is a Faunus?"

Coco laughed lightly. "Well someone can be a Faunus and we not be able to see it." Coco looked straight at Blake when she said that and Blake shivered. Coco looked back at Sun.

"I've got a question for you two, Sun and Blake, and Velvet too if you want to answer Bun Bun. How would you feel if the Faunus part of you were, oh how you say, cut off?"

In that instant, Sun, Blake and Velvet all stiffened up. Sun's tail wrapped around his leg, Blake's cat ears pressed against her skull, bow and all and Velvet grabbed both of her ears and brought them over her eyes, the grip on them like a vice. Neptune, Yang and Yatsuhashi all held their team mates close.

To a Faunus, losing the animal part of yourself  was the worst thing to happen to you. There have been known cases where if you were born a Faunus, the moment it could be see it was taken away from you.

Coco kissed a shivering Velvet on the cheek. "My point being, hews a Faunus but he got his Faunus part cut from him. The Winchester family is very prestious and having a Faunus part of the world renown weapons company is a huge problem for them and-"

"AAAHHHH! HELP ME!"

Coco was stopped by hearing a screaming Russel. He was a blur of light green and gray as he fell from the top of Beacon.

"Pyrrha."

"On it."

Just like in Emerald Forrest, Pyrrha threw Miló with the help of a shot it rushed forward just as he got a foot from the ground the javelin pierced his baggy pants and stopped him from falling."

"Thank you." was the far off call from the mowhawked boy.

"Knew it." Jaune whispered under his breath to himself.

"Anywho," Coco continued. " Do you guys see my point or do I have to spell it out for you all."  

The teams all stared at one another, sinking in the information .

"If Cardin's a Faunus than what Faunus is he?" Ruby cut through everyone's thought bubbles.

"Well, think about it Ruby. HIs shoulder blades were bleeding so I would expect him to be a bird Faunus but, they went extinct years ago." Blake answered her.

"Not exactly. Bird Faunus are known to have cut off their wings since they were the most in danger of being killed being the easiest to find. Listen, we gotta go but, before we go," Coco gripped Jaune's shoulder and pulled him down to whisper in his ear. "Go get him lover boy. You gotta get your prince charming cause he's a dumb ass and doesn't know what what to do."

Coco slightly pushed him away and left with her team following behind her. Jaune knew what she meant.

"Pyrrha, are you going to need Miló for anything anytime soon?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"It might be a while before you get it back." was all he said before running off to where the javelin had flown off to save Russel. 

A foot from the ground, Russel was pinned to the side of Beacon, Dove and Lark were both pulling on Miló to save their team mate. Jaune brushed them away and with a single, surprising tug he pulled it from Ryssel's pants and he fell to the ground.

"Where was he?"

"What?"

"Where was Cardin?"

"He was on the landing that's above our dorm."

Ignoring the yell, Jaune ran to CRDL's dorm room. The door was ajar so he could go in and climb through the window and peek above to see Cardin. Cardin was sitting on the ground facing the wall. His shirt, armor and mace were all flung a far distance away from him. Jaune could see the scars on his shoulder blades. They were slowly healing from the stitches being torn open from  his fall. Jaune rolled onto the landing , trying not to get noticed but, was quickly foiled.

"I know you're there Arc. Get lost before I knock you off the building like I did Russel."

"You could've killed him."

"I know. What else would a monster like me do?"

Jaune sat next to Cardin. Cardin was hunched over with his head in his lap.

"You're not a monster."

"How would you know?!"

Cardin near to close yelled at him and wildly swung his arm at him. Jaune jumped back from the swing that was aimed at him. He saw on Cardin's face were tears running down his flush, red face. His eyes were blood shot and his breath was ragged. He treid to punch him again but this punch was weak and Jaune easily caught it and held the fist in his hand. Cardin tried to use his other hand to punch him but Jaune caught that one too. The tears fell faster each second that his hands were held by the smaller boy.

He felt like a little kid again. The same little boy that was scared to say anything in front of his family, his father and brothers mostly. He only remembered two people he could ever talk to before they both passed away. His mother, the women he got most of his looks from with long, beautiful burnt orange hair like his and the strength to battle his fathers. She always told him as a kid that there was nothing wrong with him, he was a perfect little angel and he had the wings to prove it. She would always tell him stories of her family who he strived to be like, the gorgeous wings they had and how they fought for their rights. They all had fears but, they were ones to conquered them so that him and others could be free to do as they wished. She was always the role model in his eyes. She was a huntress and always put others before herself. She would always fight his father on the case of his wings, his father saying they were a disease, his mom saying they were a gift. How they ended up getting married would always be a mystery to Cardin.

The second person was his grandmother. HIs mom's mother. She was a little old lady who wasn't afraid to fight her daughter's husband. She never called him son-in-law because he was never a son she wanted when her only daughter married. She loved Cardin's wings just as much as his mom had. She would always groom his wings with him and would always fight on her daughters side with his dad with the fate of his wings.

They were always on his side and would always protected him.

Then they both passed.

HIs mother was killed by an Ursa protecting him. He has always been afraid of Ursii the most out of all the Grimm and that almost caused him to get killed at Forever Falls, until Jaune saved him.

His grandmother had died of old age. He knew she would leave him soon, but not right after the biggest fight between her and his father. 

After both of their deaths, his father...

He couldn't stop the loud sob that left his mouth. The tears fell faster than before and he put his head on Jaune's shoulder, soaking his shirt. Jaune wrapped his arms around the bigger man and the sobs that wrenched through his body made him want to start crying but, he had to keep his head to cool the crying by down.

"You're not a monster. You only think that way because of your family. You act the way you do because you want to try and forget every thing that has happened. You want to try and be something you're not to forget what you are, but you're only making it worse. Cardin,"

Cardin felt his head being lifted up to look into his sky blues. Cardin's face grew hot starring at the blond and he was glad that his tears and red face covered it up for him.

"You're a leader. That's only reason Russel, Lark and Dove pick on the Faunus at Beacon is because you do it. Trust me, if they knew you were a Faunus they wouldn't care. No one would care, you're a person, the only thing we care about is your actions and right now, your actions have everyone on edge."

Jaune pulled out from his pocket a handkerchief and gave it to Cardin.

"Come down when you're ready to talk to anyone."

Jaune stood and grabbed Miló and  joust as he climbed through the CRDL window he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Cradim with a brighter face than before. His armor and mace were on his bed his shirt was back on.

"I don't think I can stay there by myself any longer. Plus I gotta apologize to Russel for almost killing him."

As they walked through Beacon people gave them both shocked looks seeing the bigger guy not picking on the smaller one. Everyone in Beacon were used to seeing the two not getting along but, now they were walking through the school like they friends. Along they walked through the halls they ran into Velvet who had two towers of books in her hands and they fell all around her. She saw Cardin and whimpered and tried to hurried to pick up all the books but Cardin stopped her and took the book from her hands. Velvet was surprised to see her harasser helping her out. He put the books back in her hands.

"Hey Velvet, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you the last two semesters. I know this probably fixes nothing between us but, I just hope you see me in a different light now."

Velvet didn't expect this but, smiled at him.

"Thank you Cardin. I'm glad you've decided to change and Thank you for helping me."

Velvet continued on her way. Jaune smiled and patted him on the back. Cardin turned to look at Jaune and his now clear face turned bright red again. Cardin scratched the back of his neck, nervously.

"Listen Jaune, I gotta go. I gotta find my team and clear stuff up with them. Thanks for coming to help me out. And sorry for the shit I put you through."

Jaune just smiled and did something Cardin didn't expect.

He hugged im.

Not a small weak hug. A seriously tight, meaningfull hug that had some meaning behind it but, what Cardin didnt know. Cardin hadn't had a hug like thi since his Mother and Grandmother had died and it only made his face burn brighter. Cardin wrapped his larger arms around the smaller boy with slight hesitation. The warmth from the blond made Cardin smile and feeling Jaune squeeze him tighter made his face grow warmer and it was nice. For a while neither of them moved from the embrace and Cardin was contempt with this.

Then they arrived.

"Cardin!"

Cardin's warmth bubble was popped when Jaune pulled away from the hug and he saw Russel, Dove and Lark all running to him. He wanted to yell at them for ruining the moment between him and Jaune but, thought against it. He didn't Jaune to think he was going against his choice to change.

"I'll go so you can talk to your team. I'm happy you decied to change Cardin and hopefully that you've accepted who and what you really are."

Jaune gave him a smile that made Cardin want to melt before running off to find his own team. Cardin turned back to his team.

"I got a lot to explain to you three."

* * *

Jaune found his team back in the dorm room. Pyrrha and Nora were bombing him with quetions of what happened. Jaune only replyed with "Not my place to say." before jumping in his bed. He remembered the hug in the hall and watching Cardin help Velvet with her things and smiled.

He wouldn't regret doing this. No way in hell.

 


End file.
